


Never give up on a miracle

by a_january_girl



Category: The X-Files
Genre: AU, F/M, Fluff, William is still around
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-21
Updated: 2017-01-21
Packaged: 2018-09-18 23:35:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9407771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_january_girl/pseuds/a_january_girl
Summary: AU where Mulder and Scully got to keep William and, when he's old enough, have to deal with him wanting a sibling... Major fluffy fluff!





	

Hi, I don't know if you take any prompts, but I have, so,imagine, Scully never gives Will up, three of them lives together and one day William( still kid) tell them that he wishes he had a little brother or sister. Can you write something how M/S handle this situation and Scully really wants another baby. Nothing angst( maybe a little bit), just fluffy fluff. Thank you!

  
  


Mulder ties up the small black Converse sneaker, making the laces form into bunny ears before they turn into a knot. William offers his other foot so he could do the same to that one. The question comes out of the blue, dripping out from his small lips with genuine interest. 

 

“Daddy, does mommy have a baby in her tummy?”

 

Mulder lifts up his head to look into his son’s eyes. Scully had just excused herself from Will’s room — he can hear water running in the bathroom — and he doesn’t know if he should be sad or relieved that she isn’t here to hear their son’s question.

 

“No, she doesn’t, why do you ask?” 

 

“My friend Billy’s mom has got a baby in her tummy,” he simply states, but his eyes stay inquiring.

 

“Does she?” Mulder answers to see if he’ll continue his explanation.

 

“Yeah, she’s got a big tummy and all,” Will says, rubbing his own stomach to emphasize his words, which makes Mulder chuckle. He retrieves his feet from his father’s grasp and looks up as Mulder comes back to a standing position.

 

“How come Billy’s mom has a baby in her tummy, daddy?” he asks as his father runs his thumb over the ridge of the coffee mug Scully just abandoned on the bureau of their son’s bedroom before rushing out. With a sigh, he grabs a comb to discipline the short red hair Will has inherited from his mother. 

 

Somehow, Mulder knows he’s in for one of those conversations where his 3 year-old will soon relentlessly ask a question on top of another. He loves how curious and intelligent William is. Whenever these avalanches of questions happen, he can’t help but think about Samantha at the same age, perpetually asking her big brother to explain the world around them. She had looked up to him as if he was the smartest person on earth when he was really only four years older than her. 

 

“Well, I guess Billy’s parents love each other very much and wanted to give him a brother or a sister,” he tries to stay simple for him to understand. Of course, he will, he thinks, he’s so bright for his age.

 

“A brother…” Will ponders, as if weighing out the word carefully. After five seconds of intense thinking, he exclaims “Mommy has got two brothers!”

 

“Yes, she does,” Mulder answers. He can hear Scully fumble in the bathroom at the end of the corridor, water splashing and cabinets opening and closing. 

 

“You love mommy, right daddy?” Will asks, his little brows furrowed.

 

“Of course I do! I love her very much,” Mulder answers with a tender smile.

 

“Then why doesn’t she have a baby in her tummy too?”

 

The question is simple, and yet the answer is extremely complicated. Mulder’s heart aches for his son and his honest but heartbreaking request. At his age, he's too young to understand that he’ll remain an only child, let alone why. So he decides to answer with another question instead. 

 

“Tell me, buddy, would you like to have a baby brother or a baby sister?”

 

“A brother, maybe,” he concedes very seriously. “Not a sister, though!” he adds with a disgusted expression and a wrinkled nose, as if the idea itself was as terrible as the plate of broccoli he was served the night before. 

 

Mulder laughs out loud at his son’s honest reaction, and takes him in his arms for a quick hug. 

 

“Well, buddy, it’s pretty unlikely anyway.” 

 

Will is already escaping his father’s grasp and turning his attention to the train set snaking around on his bedroom floor. He likes to use every minute he has before getting dropped off at preschool. 

 

“But we should never give up on a miracle...” Mulder whispers to himself. 

 

As he stuffs the ET toy next to the Buzz Lightyear lunchbox in the small backpack, Mulder spins around to finish gathering Will’s things and catches sight of Scully leaning on the door frame. She looks small, and he notices her paleness and exhaustion. He will have to gently suggest that she consider taking time off or decreasing her workload but he knows that will not be an easy feat. She had agreed on teaching more hours at the Academy this year than she had after Will’s birth, and it looked like it was getting to her. As if accessing his thoughts, she flashes him a reassuring smile, and he wonders how long she’s been here listening to their conversation and if she’s heard the thought he’s just spoken out loud. 

 

“You okay?” he asks, approaching her and placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. 

 

“I’m fine,” she automatically replies, even though she knows the expression makes him cringe. “I’m just tired that’s all. Actually, I’m supposed to have a class to teach this morning, and another this afternoon, but I think I’m gonna call in sick… Would you mind driving Will to preschool without me?”

 

_ She never calls in sic _ k, Mulder considers thoughtfully. His hand automatically shifts to her forehead. She doesn’t seem to have a fever, but she does look exhausted.

 

“Are you sure you’re okay? I mean, I will drive Will, no problem, but is there anything else you want me to do for you? Do you need me to pick something up from the pharmacy?” he asks, inwardly relieved that she’s finally willing to take an opportunity to relax. 

 

“No that’s okay, don’t worry,” she raises on tiptoes to kiss him on the nose. “I’ll just make that phone call and take a hot bath while you’re out.” 

 

She exits the room with a drowsy smile, leaving her husband and his questions unanswered. 

  
  


On any other morning, the three of them would have made their way to Lincoln Elementary together. Mulder would have then dropped Scully off at Quantico. Given her a soft kiss goodbye on the lips. Got some coffee before driving himself to work. Since they’d left the X-Files, he’s been working as a chartered psychologist in town, while still occasionally consulting for VCU and teaching profiling at the Academy once in awhile. 

But this morning, looking at the empty seat beside his as he drives to drop William off, he can’t help but let his mind wander over Scully’s health. 

 

Anxiety starts to settle in. For the past two weeks she’s been looking frail and she seems to have lost her abiding energy. She hasn’t been able to go for the occasional jog nor stay awake past 9.30. He also noticed her loss of appetite and he suspects she’s lost a couple of pounds too. 

 

He can’t figure out if her staying home today when she was supposed to give one of the lectures she’s so passionate about should be alarming or not. She would never play hooky without a good reason, so she must really feel unwell to stay home.    
  


Sure, she’s not been at her best lately, but he refuses to let darker thoughts flood his mind. The cancer has been in remission but it’s always a concern. He’s been down that road and doesn’t want to go back. Besides, she wouldn’t keep anything important to herself. They’re done eluding problems and truths with the excuse to protect each other. That’s what  _ she _ insisted on herself when she agreed to become his wife. Nevertheless, he silently vows to convince her to let another doctor examine her just in case she would have missed something. 

 

Slowly, as he pulls up to the school, a glance in the rearview mirror lets Mulder see Will’s genuine enthusiasm. 

 

“Daddy, daddy, see! Billy’s mom and her big bump!” he points at a tall blonde woman with a yellow coat, walking with an equally blonde toddler by her side. She, indeed, looks like she’s about to burst any second now. “See? She looks like Big Bird!” Will chuckles, and Mulder laughs with him before bringing the car to a stop by the sidewalk.  

 

As soon as Will’s in good care in the hands of his preschool teacher, Mulder mechanically drives back home, silently rehearsing lines to try to convince Scully to let him drive her to see a doctor. He’s got the morning free and makes it his mission to talk her into the idea. 

 

When he finally opens the front door, the distinct rattle of dishes being moved around in the sink indicates she’s in the kitchen. He drops his keys on the hallway console.

 

“I’m back!” he announces. 

 

When he enters the kitchen and walk towards her, she turns the tap off and wipes her hands on the dishcloth before turning to face him. She’s wearing her comfy fleece robe, the one she reserves for lazy Sunday mornings around the house. Her hair is still wet from the bath she just took and she smells like lavender. 

 

Mulder wraps his arms around her waist and buries his nose at the nape of her neck and breathes her in.  _ God, she’s intoxicating _ . Her hands join his on her hips and she intertwines their fingers together. 

 

“Are you feeling any better, Scully?” he asks. “You look so pale…”. He doesn’t mind that his concern is so obvious, his voice sounding uneasy. 

 

“Mulder, I’m just tired,” she answers, and he tries to read her eyes. The blue depths of her gaze look brighter than usual, almost feverish, and he brings his hand to her forehead once again.  _ Nope, definitely no fever _ , he thinks. 

 

“I just,” she hesitates, trying to find her words, and Mulder’s heart skips a beat —  _ please don’t let her announce some bad news, please… _ — “I um, heard the end of your conversation with Will earlier.”

 

_ Oh. That’s it then _ . He goes rigid and stands upright in front of her, trying to decipher her feelings. He can only imagine how such a conversation might make her feel. They both would have loved to have another child after Will, but despite their efforts, nothing has come along. They talked about it many times. Yes, it would be a blessing to have another baby, but it was never going to happen. He thought she’d made her peace with the idea, but apparently, hearing Will’s questions had stirred up her emotions, as it had his. 

 

“He’s such a curious and perceptive kid, I guess we were bound to have this conversation sooner than later,” he murmurs in her ear, trying to appease her tension. 

 

“I wonder where he gets that from,” she quips.

 

His eyes close and he tenderly kisses the soft spot below her ear. He wants his lips to convey how much he loves her, to ease her exhaustion and her frustration. She makes him happy in so many ways, and has been for so many years now. 

 

He never pictured himself as a family man before Scully came along. Everything changed the day he saw her with Emily and envisioned how happy and whole a kid would make her feel. At that moment, he remembers, he’d already been madly in love with her for quite a while. In an instant, he’d secretly hoped he could find a way into both their hearts and be the one to protect them for the rest of their lives. He was as crushed with despair as Scully was when they had lost the little girl. He spent another handful of years loving Scully from afar, trying to protect her chances to become a mother as foolishly as he could. He never hesitated when she asked if he would be her donor for the IVF. He was crushed with despair again as she cried into his arms a few months later, feeling more down than she ever was in her life. 

 

When he came back to her impressively swollen belly after his abduction, the axis his whole world was aligned with shifted. He had turned his life around, making her and Will his top priorities, and leaving his job and his quest for the truth behind for the first time in his life. It was simple. They both had become his new truth. Now that he had it all, he wouldn’t go back. Not for anything in the world. He would die to keep his wife and child happy and away from harm. 

 

“At least he didn’t ask how we actually make babies,” he teases, trying to lighten the mood, and her giggle appeases both their nerves. “I think we have a few more years to get to that question.”

 

“I love you,” she whispers, and she punctuates her words with a happy grin. The knot in his stomach loosens a bit when he sees her smiling. There is a nervous energy about her that he can’t quite place. Trepidation starts to make its way into his thoughts, again.

 

Scully’s eyes are watery and glowing with intense brightness. She takes his face into her hands and raises herself on tiptoes to bring her lips to his, kissing him fiercely. He kisses her back passionately. Her tongue grazing his lips, immediately seeking access to his mouth, draws a deep moan from his throat. Her hands slip inside his jacket and her thumbs trace lazy circles on his chest, while his instinctively get lost in her hair. 

 

When the need for air becomes vital, their lips part and Mulder leans his forehead against hers. 

 

“What was that for, Scully?” he pants.

 

“I told you, I love you Fox Mulder.”

 

“Ut-oh, use of my full name? What did I do now… or didn’t do,” he jokes and kisses her cheek.

 

He notices a blush spread across her face.

 

“You definitely did something,” she states. Her tone is serious and reminiscent of the scientist that would offer rebuttals to his theories.

 

“What is it Scully?” he asks, his heart rate unable to slow down. She will always keep him guessing.

 

When she lifts up her face and looks into his eyes, they reflect nothing but pure happiness. She looks pensive and he notices her swallow hard before she finally speaks. 

 

“Never give up on a miracle Mulder.”

 

At first, disbelief clouds his mind and he can't think straight. But, always offering concrete evidence, she retrieves a white stick from her pocket and places it in his hand. 

 

It has a PLUS sign on it. 

 

His eyes widen, in awe, silently asking confirmation for what he thinks he just understood. When she nods and her eyes well up with tears, his breath becomes short and his chest warms up with the intensity he sees in her eyes. Feeling weak in the knees, he falls at her feet and lays his palm where their baby is growing. He presses his cheek against her stomach and looks up at her as he gently loosens her robe, letting it open slightly. He places an open mouth kiss on her naked belly. 

 

“I love you too, Scully.” 

 

He stands up and kisses her lips, first tenderly, then hungrily again. His hands gently roam over her bare tummy dragging a low groan from her throat. 

 

When his hands travel up and cradle her face, he leans down so that their foreheads meet. 

 

“As incredible as it is, it’s true Mulder,” she says with teary eyes as if she’d sensed his disbelief. “Real coffee makes me queasy again...” she explains, and he’s thrilled he’s finally going to experience all the little details of pregnancy with her this time. 

 

“I’ll buy some decaf. Anything you want, really,” he offers. His face hurts from smiling, but he’s never felt so high on emotions. His own thoughts suddenly make him laugh. “I guess we can expect the ‘where do babies come from?’ talk to happen sooner, after all.”

  
  



End file.
